Slack adjuster



WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, or NEW Yoan, N. Y., Assrenon, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

To GoULD oournna COMPANY, or Nnw YORK, N. Y.

SLACK ADJUSTEBJf Application lled July 11, 1923. Serial No. 650,916.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM I-I. SAUVAGE, citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,havepinvented certain new Y Y For convenience, the invention will be here- Oneof theobjects of the present inven-V tion is to provide a simple and practical slack adjuster of the above general char? acter, which will be reliable and eficient in .operation and automatically regulatev the tension or compression members connected either with the foundation rigging beneath the car ioorl or the truck brake rigging.

inafter described with reference to the latter application, although it is to be understood that Vwithout material modification -various features thereof may beeadapted rwithout material change to the foundation brake rigging.

and. strong automatic slack adjuster which will insure predetermined and uniformnpis- Y ton travel or handr brake operation Vat all.

times. A further object and eflicient device which may be easily and quickly applied to standard brake rigging equipment without material alteration ofY the remaining parts.

A further object is to provide an inex-` i 'pensive mechanism having relatively few parts, which may be inexpensivelymanufactured and assembled. p

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out in connection With the followinganalysis of this invention, when takenin connection -with the l accompanying sheet of drawing illustrating f one of various possible embodiments of the invention, and in the several views of which corresponding parts are denoted by similarV reference characters.

In these drawings- Y Figure 1 is an elevational View showing a four-wheel truck and frame in outline with the live and dead levers and associated parts ofr the adjuster shown more in detail; and

isto provide a practical Figure 2 is a detailed view showingione end of the slack adjuster mechanism.

VReferring now to the drawings in detail, 10 denotes a truck frame with which are associated two wheels 11 the peripheries of which are adapted to be eng-aged by the brake shoes 12 carried by brake shoevbeams 13. These beams are ractuated by live and A(dead levers 111 and 15, respectively,the .lever 14 being actuated by. a pullrod shown diagrammatically at 16, while the upper endof the dead lever 15vis adjustably supported by a fulcrum 17 secured to the truck frame. The

lower ends of the live and deadlevers are connected to opposite endsof alconnecting rod 18 preferably formed of two'parallel flat steel bars pivotally connected at V20 to the lower end of the dead lever and at 21 to the lower end of thenlive lever.

The pivot 21 passes through an elongated Vslot22 inthe connecting lrod 18 and has directly associated therewithma. gravity-'actuated pawl 23 co-actingwith a ratchet or rack 24 on the upper surface offthezconnecting Arod 18. Midway between thel lower end of the live lever Maand its connection'25with Y f y Athe brake beam strut 13 is asecondfgravty- A further object is to provide a durablel one-fourth inches, but the teeth are only onehalf inchlong and about five-sixteenths of an inch in depth. The reasons for this construction will probably be clearer from the following statement of operation.

In operation, the upper end of the live lever 14, is moved relatively towards the right on application of the brakes. vIf'any excess tra-vel takes place, due towear of the brake shoes, the peripheries of the wheels,

- or other parts, then the pawl 26 moves over one toothon the rack 28 Orione-half inch, and, as the brakes are released and the parts return to normal position, as shown in Figure 1, this slackis taken up and the lower end of the live lever, indicated by the pivot fing application, it is desirable to havethe rack 24 heavier and the teeth made substantially the saine in order to properly take up this excess strain. The parts remain in this relative position duringthe Iapplication and release of the brakes until such vwear occurs i as/willfagain cause a repetition of the above operationrthat is, the pawl 26 will slide overdone too-th of the rack 28 and. as soon as the wear increases beyond this distance, then the pawl 23 will slide over the next adjacent tooth of the rack 24. j

By having these racks of different sizes, it will'be noted that the excessftravel is really taken upwheii the wear` of the parts y exceeds an amount corresponding to the difference, betweenr the three-fourths ifnch teeth and the one-half inch teeth. ln `other words, approximately every quarter inch` of excess travel at the slack adjusterwill cause anA operation of one pawl or the other,

therebyv permanently7 to take up and hold this'excess travel. j i

. The blank space 30 between the two rack sections is utilizedespecially.when the slack yadjnster'has moved lthe Afull distance towards .the right and the brake shoesare not atv once4 replaced. Thus, assuming that the pay'vl 26 has .moved to the right hand end Vofthe ,rack 28 and pawl 23 likewise, and further wear y,takes place, then the pawl 26 will ine/relyv ride upon the upper lsurface of the blank space 30and, on release, will dropv back into the first adjacent tooth and the second pawl Qirernains stationary inthe last tooth orv notch. The end of slot 22 also prevents Vany further movement of the pawl 23 towards the right. Y y Y The present device is, therefore, more reliable and eflicient than previous devices. The mechanism is of simple, inexpensive ,and durable construction well vadapted to accomplish among'others all of the objects and advantages hereinafterset forth. Y

lVithout further analysis, the foregoing i will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others can, by applying current .knowledge, readily adapt itfor various applications without omitting cert-ain features that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitutel essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention, and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and rangeof equivalency of the `following claims.

l claim:

l. In an automatic slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a connecting rod pivotally connected therewith and having an elongated slot whereby relative change in the pivotal 'connection with respect to the connecting rod may take place, said connecting rod having a plurality of racks associated with its upper surface and pawls carried by said live lever for engaging said racks progressively. y

2. ln an automatic slack adjuster, in coin bination, a live lever, a connecting rod pivotally connected therewith`- and having an elongated slot whereby relative change in the pivotal connection may takef place, said connecting rod having a pluralityy of racks associated with its upper surface and pawls carried by said live lever engaging said.

racks progressively, said racks being of dif# ferent size. Y

3.V ln an automatic slackadjuster, in coinbination, a live lever, a connecting rod ypivotally connected therewith and having an elongated slot whereby relative change in the pivotal connection may take place` said connecting` rod having` a plurality of racks associated 4with its uppersurface and pawls carried by said live lever engaging said racks progressively, said racks being i separated by a blank space, thereby to limit the progressive movement of the live lever with respect to the rod.

4. In an automatic slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a connecting rod pivotal'ly connected therewith and having an elongated slot whereby relativer change in the pivotal connection may take place, said connecting rod having al plurality of racks associated with its upper surface' land pawls carried by said live lever eiigag'ingsaid racksY progressively, said racks being of different size and separated by agblankspace, thereby blanking the pawl fronifurther engagment with teeth to prevent full i'elease of the live lever. l

-5. In an automatic slack adjuster, iii coinbination,a live lever, a dead lever, a connecting rod pivotally connected with the lower ends of said levers andprovid'edwith an elongated slot at one pivot-al connection whereby relative movement may take place, and pawls carried by said live lever one above the other, one being substantially inidway' between the pivotal point of the live lever and its pivotal connection with the connecting rod, and racks of different size Y on the upper surface of said connecting rod adapted to Vbe engaged by said pawls one after the other to permanently takeup and hold the excess movement due towear of the parts. Y p

6. In an automatic slackadjuster, in'combination. a live lever and dead lever, a connecting i'od pivotally "connected with the lower ends of said levers, one of said connections including an elongated slot for permitting relative movement between the live lever and its connection with the connecting rod, a plurality of racks spaced apart upon the upper surface of said connecting rod, and a plurality of pawls associated with the live lever and engaging said racks.

7. In an automatic slack adjuster, in combination, a live and dead lever, a connecting rod pivotally connected with the lower ends of said levers, one end ot' said connection including an elongated slot 'for permitting relative movementbetween the live lever' and its connection with the connecting rod, a plurality of racks spaced apart upon one surface of said connectingrod, and a plurality of pawls associated with the live lever and engaging said racks, the size of the teeth of one rack differing from the size of the teeth of the other rack whereby the holding pawls progressively take up and hold excess wear of the parts.

8. In an automatic slack adjuster, in combination, live and dead levers, a connecting rod pivotally connected with the lower ends of said levers, one end of said connection including an elongated slot for permitting relative movement between the live lever and its connection with the connecting rod, a plurality of racks spaced apart upon one .sur-

face of said push rod, and a plurality of pawls associated with the live lever and en- Y gaging said racks, the size of the teeth of one rack diiering from the size of the teeth of another rack whereby the holding pawls progressively take up and hold excess wear of the parts, said pawls being gravity actuated.

9. In' an automatic slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a connecting rod having a slotted pivotal connection therewith, racks on one surface of said connecting rod, and pawls carried by the live lever engaging said racks, said racks being of different size and spaced apart one from the other, thereby to limit the relative movement taking place between the live lever and the connecting rod.

10. In an automatic slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a truck brake beam pivotally connected near the central part thereof, a connecting rod connected with the lower end of said live lever and having a slotted connection therewith to permit relative movement, said connecting rod having a plurality of racks associated with its upper surface and pawls carried by said live lever for engaging said racks progressively.

In witness whereof I have signed my name this 24th day of May, 1923.

WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE. 

